World Cup of Poker X

The PokerStars World Cup of Poker (WCP) is back with a brand new Play Money format, and with the first round matches costing just 1K chips to enter, anyone can step up to represent their country.

Players in 96 countries (see below) are invited to take part and help win the WCP for their nation. Will defending champions Russia be able to retain the title? Play your part and bring the Championship home!

How to play the World Cup of Poker

96 countries are divided into eight groups, below. Players can take part in any stage of the competition, provided their country is still in the Cup and they have enough Play Money chips to buy-in.

Play Money chips can be purchased directly from within the PokerStars client from just $1.99 for 350K, up to our great value package of $99.99 for 75M. Click here to find out more.

To play in any stage of the WCP, find the relevant tourney in the Play Money section of the PokerStars client, by searching for ‘WCP’.

Stages

November 22: all players in named countries are invited to take on players from the other countries in their group in a 1K Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Multi-Table Tournament. The country represented by the winning player in each group will go through to the Round of 16.

November 23: players from all named countries - excluding the country from each group that qualified on November 22 - will meet again for another 1K Heads-Up NLHE tournament. Once again, the country represented by the winning player in each group will advance to the Round of 16.

November 29: the Round of 16 takes place, with countries facing off in pairs in a series of 10K Heads-Up NLHE tourneys (see Tournament Schedule below), with 10M chips added to the prize pool of each match. Winners of each bracket advance to the Quarter Finals.

December 6: the Quarter Finals see eight countries face off in four matches, each a 25K Heads-Up NLHE tourney with 20M chips added to the prize pool. Four countries advance to the Semi Finals.

December 13: four countries compete in the Semi Finals, two 50K tournaments following the Heads-Up format used throughout the contest, with 50M chips added to the prize pool. The winning two countries go through to the final, while the runners-up advance to the third place play-off.

December 20: the 100K Third Place Play-Off takes place at 12:00 ET, with 50M chips added, before the 100K World Cup of Poker Final starts at 14:00 ET, with 200M added to the prize pool.

Tournament Schedule

First Group Matches (1K entry): November 22

Second Group Matches (1K entry): November 23

Group A - 04:00 ET

Group B - 08:00 ET

Groups C, D, E & F - 12:00 ET

Groups G & H - 18:00 ET

Round of 16 (10K entry): November 29

Group A 1st vs Group B 2nd - 04:00 ET

Group C 1st vs Group D 2nd - 12:00 ET

Group E 1st vs Group F 2nd - 12:00 ET

Group G 1st vs Group H 2nd - 18:00 ET

Group B 1st vs Group A 2nd - 04:00 ET

Group D 1st vs Group C 2nd - 12:00 ET

Group F 1st vs Group E 2nd - 12:00 ET

Group H 1st vs Group G 2nd - 18:00 ET

Quarter Finals (25K entry): December 6

Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2 - 10:00 ET

Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4 - 12:00 ET

Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6 - 14:00 ET

Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 8 - 16:00 ET

Semi Finals (50K entry): December 13

Winner of Match 9 vs Winner of Match 10 - 12:00 ET

Winner of Match 11 vs Winner of Match 12 - 14:00 ET

Third Place Play-Off (100K entry): December 20

Loser of Match 13 vs Loser of Match 14 - 12:00 ET

THE WORLD CUP OF POKER FINAL (100K entry): December 20

Winner of Match 13 vs Winner of Match 14 - 14:00 ET

Country Groups

Participating countries are grouped as follows. In the first and second group matches you will play against players from the other countries in your group.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Australia

Azerbaijan

Croatia

Algeria

China

Bangladesh

Czech Republic

Austria

Indonesia

India

Denmark

Belarus

Japan

Iran

Estonia

Belgium

Republic of Korea

Kazakhstan

France

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Malaysia

Kyrgyzstan

Hungary

Cyprus

New Zealand

Mongolia

Israel

Republic of Ireland

Philippines

Pakistan

Italy

Montenegro

Singapore

Russian Federation

Lebanon

Switzerland

Taiwan

Turkmenistan

Morocco

Turkey

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Slovenia

Ukraine

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

Tunisia

United Kingdom

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Armenia

Albania

Argentina

Bolivia

Egypt

Bulgaria

Bahamas

Brazil

Finland

Georgia

Costa Rica

Canada

Germany

Latvia

El Salvador

Chile

Greece

Malta

Guatemala

Colombia

Lithuania

Netherlands

Honduras

Dominican Republic

Luxembourg

Norway

Jamaica

Ecuador

Macedonia

Portugal

Mexico

Guyana

Moldova

Slovakia

Paraguay

Nicaragua

Poland

South Africa

United States

Panama

Romania

Spain

Uruguay

Peru

Serbia

Sweden

Venezuela

Trinidad & Tobago

Please Note: ‘United Kingdom’ includes the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands; ‘France’ includes Reunion and Martinique; ‘China’ includes Hong Kong; ‘United States’ includes Puerto Rico and Guam.

Roll of Honor

World Cup of Poker IX: Team RussiaWorld Cup of Poker VIII: Team PeruWorld Cup of Poker VII: Team ItalyWorld Cup of Poker VI: Team Chinese TaipeiWorld Cup of Poker V: Team GermanyWorld Cup of Poker IV: Team USAWorld Cup of Poker III: Team PolandWorld Cup of Poker II: Team Costa RicaWorld Cup of Poker I: Team Costa Rica